Weeding-machine.



PATENTED nfim so, 1903.

0 S FELLOWS WEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED J LY 14, 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 NO MODEL.

PATBNTBD JUNE 30, 1903..

' 0. s. FELLOWS.

WEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 14, 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 \wnin" H0 MODEL.

NESSES dliornw,

m; Nonms wnzns cc)v PNOTO-LIYHG,WASHINGTON, o c

Patented June 30, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

OZRO S: FELLOWS, OF BATTLEOREEK, MICHIGAN.

.WEEDlNG- MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 732,180, dated June 30,1903. Application filed July 14, 1902. Serial No. 115,577- (No model.)

To (tZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that LOZRO S.FELLo s,of Battlecreek, in the county ofCalhoun and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Weeding-Machines and I hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description thereof, ref erence being had tothe accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

Thislinvention is an improved weeding-ma chine, especially designed towhip or scrape out out weeds and to thin out rows of young plants. Themachine, as shown, comprises two oppositely-rotating disk-shaped brushesor series of brushes, preferably made of wires or long very stiff rodsor fibers, arranged to rotate oppositely to each other at high andpreferably different speeds and operating in a plane at right angles totheir path of travel. Said brushes are preferably mounted on concentricnested shafts journaled in a frame hung on the wheeled driving-axle ofthe machine, and said machine may be propelled by manual power or byhorse-power, being shown asa manually-operated machine in the drawings.

A subsidiary object of the invention is to construct one (or both) ofthe brushes in such manner that it can be arranged to operate as a diskbrush or as a segmental brush.

The invention consists in the novel constructions and combinations ofparts summarized in the claims, and the accompanying drawings illustratea practical weeding-machine embodying the invention in the best mannernow known to me; but I do not re-' strict myself to the specificconstructionv shown therein.

In said drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of the complete machine.Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof. Figs. 3 and 4: are face views of thetwo brushes. Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the operative partsof the machine. Figs. 6 and 7'are detail views of the wheel-hubclutches.

The axle A of the machine is rotatable and.

is supported on wheels B, which are loosely mounted on the axleintermediate fixed collars a a, the latter having cam or ratchet facesnext} the hubs of the wheels adapted to be engaged by pins 1), which areloosely mounted in longitudinal holes in the hubs of the wheels and canslide e'ndwise therein. The collars ahave recesses 51 on their facesnext the hubs of the wheels, said recesses being opposite ratchetprojections a on collars a, as shown in Fig. 7. When the machine movesforwardly, the pins b, moving with the wheel-hubs, engage projections aon collars a and lock the wheels to axle A, causing the latter torevolve. Upon backward movement of the wheels the pins are forcedoutward by the beveled rear sides of projections 6%, the outer ends ofthe pins projecting into the recesses a in the outer collars a, saidrecesses permitting the pins to move past projections a on the backwardrotation of the Wheels without looking the wheels to the axle. Therecesses a however, are beveled so as to force the pins inward intoposition to again engage projections a on the forward'movement of thewheels.

Hung on the axle, intermediate the wheels, is a Y-shaped frame, whosebifurcations O are loosely sleeved on the axle, as shown, while its stem0 is tubular and extends rearwardly at right angles to the axle, but canbe swung vertically relatively thereto. Through the stem 0 extends atubular shaft D, and extending through shaft D, concentric therewith, isa second shaft E. On the forward end of shaft D is a bevel-gear D,meshing with a larger bevel-gear D keyed to axle A, and on the forwardend of. shaft E isa bevelpi'nion E, meshing with a bevel gear E keyed onaxle A. The gears D E being opiposite and of different diameters impartopposite rotary motions to shafts D E, the relative speeds of shafts D Edepending entirely .upon the size-of the gearing.

On the rear end of the shaft D is fixed a weeding disk or brush,preferably composed of a series of long wires or rods ol, radiating froma hub d, to which their. inner ends are attached by a plate 1 bolted tothe face of hub or in other convenient manner. Preferably the wires (1are slightly bent, so as to dish the brush. While I prefer to use wires,stiff fibers or rods might be used in some instances. I

On the rear end of shaft E is also fixed a brush, which may be similarto brush (1, but,

as shown, is composed of a hub e, to the periphery of which are attacheda series of segments e which are capable of being set or turned on thehub so as to break the continuity of the series of brush-rods e and forma segmental brush. The brush-rods 6 preferably have their extremitiesbent, as at 6 so as to have a greater whipping action on the weeds. Thesegments 2 are secured to the hub e and may be locked thereto in anyadjusted position by means of the eyebolts e and nuts 6, as indicated inFigs. tand 5, said segments 6 having pintles or stems e, which engagethe eyes of bolts a as shown. By this construction the continuity of thedisklike brush can also be broken by removing one or more of thesegments 6 In Fig. 4 only two segments are shown, the brush e not beingcontinuous. The object of thus constructing the brush is to enable it tomake skips in the row, which is particularly useful in thinning rows ofvegetables, for example, as the brush-segments can be so adjusted thatthe brush will leave hills or plants at regular intervals in the row asthe machine travels thereover. A complete circular brush, like d, willoperate continuously along the entire row, while a segmental or gapedbrush will leave hills in the row, as is evident. Both brushes (1 e maybe made segmental, like brush 6, or both may be made continuous, likebrush d, or one brush of each kind may be used on the machine, asillustrated in the drawings.

The machine is provided with handles F, the front ends of which areattached to the sleeved bifurcations O of the frame, as shown, and thehandles may be adjustably connected to the stem of the casting by meansof the strap f, attached at its lower end to the stem 0 and havingperforations in its upper ends, which may be engaged with a bolt f onone handle, as shown. The machine may be propelled by pushing on handlesF or by attaehing a draft-animal thereto in any convenient manner.

Operation: The machine is moved along a row which it is desired to weed,and the flexible brushes. pull or whip out the weeds therein. While thestraight rods d'act efficiently, rods like 6, having bent or curvedends, as e act more violently. It is not always desirable to have such aviolent action, and therefore it is advisable to provide interchangeablesets of brushes for each machine, so that either or both curved orstraight rod brushes can be used at will. Also when plants and weeds aresmall light brushes can be used, while heavier brushes are used forlarger weeds. A single brush will act efficiently when geared at highspeed; but two oppositely-rotating brushes are more effective. Thebrushes act diagonally of the row, due to their double motion-t. e.,their rotary and linear or traveling motion. Where twooppositely-rotating brushes are used, they help to clear each other morequickly and by striking weeds and plants in opposite directions cut themofi or tear them out more effectually and easily than a single brush,which in very pliable weeds would tend to bend them.over. Theweeder-hrushes will cut more deeply into the center of rows than on thesides and are not liable to clog, discharging what weeds or dirt theymay loosen or cut out at the sides of the row.

Having thus described my invention, what I therefore claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent thereon, is-

1. In a weeder, a weeding-brush composed of a hub, a series ofindependently-adjustable segments attached thereto, and radiating wiresattached to said segments; combined with means for rotating the brush,substantially as described.

2. In a weeder, the combination of a pair of independent axially-alineddisks, whipping-rods attached to and radiating from said disks, andgearing for independently posi tively rotating said disks during thetravel of the machine, substantially as described.

3. In a weeder, the combination of the main axle, the frame, the shaftsjournaled in the frame, brushes on said shafts having radiatingwhipping-rods, one of said brushes having independently-adjustablesegments carrying the rods, substantially as set forth.

4. In a weeder,'the combination of a rotatable disk-brush having longwhipping-rods, and a similar oppositely-rotating .brush cooperatingtherewith, substantially as described.

5. In a weeder, the combination of a rotat ing brush, composed ofradiating rods or wires having their outer ends bent; with anoppositely-rotating brush in axial alinement and juxtapositiontherewith, substantially as described.

6. In a weeder, the combination of the axle, the supporting-wheels, arotatable disk-like brush composed of radiating flexible wires or rodsattached to a hub, and gearing for rotating said brush from the axle,substantially as described.

7. In a weeder, the combination of the frame, supporting wheels, theconcentric shafts journaled in said frame, gearing for driving saidshafts in opposite directions from the wheels, and the adjacentdisk-like brushes attached to the ends of the said shafts, substantiallyas described.

8. In a weeder, the combination of the axle, the supporting-wheels, theframe hung on the axle, the shaft journaled therein, the rotatabledisk-like brush composed of flexible radiating wires or rods attached toa hub on said shaft, and gearing for rotating said shaft from the axle,substantially as described.

9. In a weeder, the combination of the wheeled axle, the frame hungthereon, concentric shafts journaled in said frame, gearing for drivingsaid shafts in opposite directions fromthe axle, and adjacent disk-likebrushes attached to the ends of the said shafts, substantially asdescribed.

10. The herein-described weeding-m achine,

composed of the wheeled axle, a frame swung upon the axle, concentricshafts journaled in said frame and lying at right angles to the axle,gearing between the axle and the adjacent ends of said shafts forrotating them in opposite directions, and oppositely-facing brushes,attached to the rear ends of said shafts, composed of hubs and wires orrods radiating therefrom, substantially as described.

11. In a weeding-machine, the combination of the axle, the wheelsjournaled thereon, clutches for locking the axle to the wheels, a frameswung upon the axle, and handles for guiding said frame; with concentrieshafts journaled in said frame and lying at right angles to the axle,gearing between the axle and the adjacent ends of said shafts forrotating them in opposite directions, and oppositely-facing disk-likebrushes attached to the rear ends of said shafts composed'of hubs andWires radiating therefrom, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

. OZRO S. FELLOWS. Witnesses:

FRANK W. WARD, ALBERT B. SIMPSON.

